MOUNT OLIVE – Despite a highly competitive first half of play on Saturday, the University of Mount Olive men’s lacrosse team was defeated by a 12-6 margin against No. 15 ranked Newberry in a non-conference matchup at Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex.
With the loss, the Trojans suffer back-to-back home losses to drop to 1-3 overall after facing a trio of programs from the South Atlantic Conference (SAC).
Mount Olive will play its final non-conference game on the schedule at 2 p.m. on Wednesday when it hosts Wingate.
Meanwhile, the Wolves improve to 1-2 this season after facing a pair of nationally-ranked opponents to begin the 2025 slate.
Newberry opened the contest by taking advantage of a man-up opportunity, scoring the first goal of the game at the 11:47 mark of the first quarter.
The Trojans quickly answered back as junior Hudson Karasek fired in his fifth goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1.
The two teams battled back and forth, with both defenses stepping up early, but the Wolves was able to regain the lead late in the first quarter.
With just 17 seconds left, Newberry found the back of the net to go up 2-1 at the break.
In the second quarter, the Wolves started to pull away, scoring two quick goals in the opening four-plus minutes to extend its lead to 4-1.
The Trojans responded with a goal from freshman Brayden Rieger, but Newberry answered once again scored to hold a three-goal edge.
Freshman Jason Falso got on the scoreboard with his first collegiate goal at the 4:34 mark, cutting the Newberry lead to 5-3 going into halftime.
The Trojans opened the second half looking to close the gap as fifth-year Jack Lewis delivered his seventh goal of the season, bringing the score to 5-4 and giving UMO some momentum.
However, Newberry would seize control of the game from that point onward.
The Wolves went on a dominant run, scoring six unanswered goals and shutting down the Trojan offense, extending their lead to 11-4 by the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, junior Benjamin Vanderkley netted his team-leading eighth goal of the season with 11:16 left to make it 11-5.
The contest went into a scoreless drought before Newberry added a goal with 3:52 remaining to push the score to 12-5.
UMO had one more response left as senior Bubba Bowen found the back of the cage for his second goal of the season with 1:50 left on the clock, 12-6.
Junior goalkeeper Kurtis Lensing tallied 13 saves on 34 shots faced in 60 minutes of play.
Redshirt senior Josh Mauer delivered an outstanding performance on faceoffs after winning 15-of-20 with five ground balls on Saturday.
Defensively, fifth-year Tanner Meijas and senior Cameron Norton each totaled three caused turnovers in the loss.
